Like every other nations Hazara people have also their own kind of foods. These foods i will write about here are much different from other foods. Here are some of the famouse foods;
AASH (آش)
Aash is a kind of food that has its own taste. Aash was not to found in hazara restaurents a few years back but now it is not difficult to find a restaurent for eating aash. Aash is made of flour and its easy to make at home. Some hazara housewives make aash at home and sell it to shops and earn some money.
Aash can be a healthy food for sick people without any of its extra ingredience on it. Aash is also a feast food. In parties it can be served with minced meat, vegetables and lenses on it. People do it in their on ways.
DALDA (دلده)
Dalda is mostly favourite food of adults. When its raw it looks like Wheat. After cooking it for a while it doesn't look like the same. When its done its served with some boied oil in the middle, which has its own taste.
Dalda eats with hands.
NANTAR/YAKHNI (نان تر/ یخنی)
Yakhni is a kind of soup. It can be soup of kitchen, goat, cow or may be sheep. When you put some bread (nan) in the bowl of your soup then it become NANTAR, which means beared is wet. This food tastes better with hands, but it can be eaten by spoon,too.
Meat of the soup is in another plate beside the bowl of the soup.
HALWA-E-SAMANAK (حلوه سمنک)
Halwa-e-samank is not ordinary food. It can be made as daily food like dinner or lunch. Halwa is for holidays like Muharram(holly month) or funeral.
Making of halwa is not easy job. You have to be strong enough to mix the ingrediance with its spoon. For making if this food you need strong folks and it takes atleast one day to be done with this delicious and wonderful food. It can be light brown or dark brown or just brown. Sugar is the important ingrediance in Halwa-e-samanak. Without sugar you can't call it for Halwa-e-samank.
OGRAY AAJAI (اگرای آجی)
Ogray aajai is one of the hazaragi foods which is mostly eaten by old women and old men. Ingridiance in this food are flour, little bit oil, water and salt after taste. Its served the same way as Dalda, with boiled oil in the middle of the plate.
The oil in themiddle looks like a valley and the rest of the food like a mountain.
Like Halwa-e-samanak ogray aajai is also not easy to make.
AASHAK (اشک)
Aashak is also a hazaragi food, but not all hazaras can make aashak. Kabuli (people of Kabul,Afghanistan) are very good at making aashak and mantu. Inside the aashak is usually minced meat or spinach. Its usually served with youghurt on it. It tastes very good.
MANTU (منتو)
Mantu is a very delicious hazaragi food. Actualy its kabuli peple who are very expert at making mantu, hazaras are also good at making mantu. Mantu is boiled food like aashak. Aashak and mantu can't be boiled in water like eggs. You can find stearmers which are specially for these kind of foods.
For making this food extra deliciouse and beautiful, it can be decorated with cooked lenses, salat and plain yoghurt.
Recipi for mantu: http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/mantu_dumplings.html
SHOLAY (شوله)
Sholay is a little bit different from other hazaragi foods. There are meat, rice, and different kinds of beans and different spices to make the dish very spicy. Its colour is brown and tastes wonderful.
Sholay is mostly favorite of men folks.
QADID (قدید)
In hazara tradition qadid is dried meat. It takes four to six weeks to dry the meat before it is dry enough to call it qadid. Qadid can be eaten with yakhni (read paragraph yakhni/nantar) which tastes very delicious.
Qadid is known as landi among pashtons.
QABULI (قابلی)
Qabuli is both hazaragi and kabuli dish. Its actually simple boiled rice with fried carrot and raisins on it. People in Kabul do not use as much carrot as people in Quetta.
Children and some adults too do not like the carrots and raisins in their qabuli because it tastes sweet, and take the unlikely parts out of the dish.
There are many delicious foods in hazaragi tradition which are not named in the list upon. Here comes the list with the names of the foods whichare eaten by hazaras in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Australia, Europe and where ever in the world they live.
I will only write the names and little bit about the food. Not as detailed as the foods are named earlier.
These foods are both hazaragi foods and foods from other traditions like Pakistani and Indian.
- Biryani (بریانی): is almost on everyone's favorite list. May be on the top. Biryani is spicy rice with meat. The meat can be chicken, cow or sheep. Biryani is usually served in wedding parties and muharram month.
- Chawol tarkari (چاول ترکاری): Chawol is white, boiled rice. Tarkari is sauce with meat in it. Chawol tarkari also can be served in wedding parties.
- Omaj (اماج)
- Kocha (کوچه)
- Changali (چنگالی)
- Bosragh (بوسراغ): is specially for eid festivals.
- Qurti (قرتی)
- Nan buta (نان بوتا)
- Alo qima/minced meat with patato (آلو قیمه )
- Alo matar/patato with peas (آلو متر)
- Daal/beans (دال)
- Qurti (قرتی)
- Makrooni (مکرونی)
- Spaghetti (سپا گیتی)
- Morghpalaw (مرغ پالاو)
- Chawol cholay (چاول چولی)
And many more delicious and spicy and wonderful dishes . . .
Hazara people are not actually interested in desert. Couple of years back desert was not so famous among hazaras but now people are starting to serve desert after dinner or lunch. Some sweet dishes which are not used as desert but still can be called desert are;
- Shir yakh/frozen milk (شیریخ) i guarantee you that you would love shir yakh if you taste it once.
- Custered: is actually a pakistani sweet dish but most of hazara families use this dish as a sweet dish.
- Firni (فرنی): is kabuli dish.
- Shir brinj (شیر برنج): if i translate this word in english it would be milk rice. Its obevious from the name that main things in this dish are milk and rice. Sugar and cardamom makes the taste perfect.
